Scotland reels in China diners

"We strongly believe that there is a market in China for high-quality products and Scottish salmon offers the best quality and flavor that will be appreciated by those looking for a premium product," said Simon Briggs, sales director of the company.

The company says building direct contacts with the Chinese is the best way to win the business.

"We have hosted inbound visits to Loch Fyne from China and believe very much in working in partnership with our customers, inviting them to visit Loch Fyne, to understand our location, working practices and the passion we put into creating our product. Our partners are carefully selected with a view to enjoying a long-term working relationship," Briggs said.

Another Scottish seafood company that has a notable presence in China is Northbay Pelagic, also known as Fresh Catch, primarily selling mackerel.

Colin Anderson, director at Northbay, said the company has been developing business in China for the past 15 years, and opened its first Chinese office in Qingdao, Shandong province, in 2010. The company realized that if growth was to be sustained and new products introduced, it would require an office and staff to assist the company in achieving its key strategies.

"Having an office has made many positive differences in the way the company approaches the market and introduces products to China, and we believe that this can only be a major help when trying to develop business in what is a complex and demanding market," Anderson said.

He said that export sales in China are not always in a straightforward upward projection. Some products dip in terms of demand and then reemerge, so the company has to work extremely hard to maintain growth in the market.

"Demand is often inconsistent and competition is fierce, particularly from companies that think that trading in China is easy. They try to enter the market without being fully prepared, only disrupt key elements of everyone's trading because they are so poorly prepared for the issues," Anderson said.

Burgon Eyemouth Ltd, a Scottish crab supplier, is another company on track toward creating a large presence in China.

The company started looking into exporting to the country in 2010, and the movement was accelerated by the collapse in the European market and the affinity of the sales director, David Markham, for China.

"The Chinese market clearly loves crab and imports a variety from around the world. Our season happily coincides with the Chinese New Year market, which works well for us. The Chinese market is very important for our business, and we are looking to increasing our capacity to try to satisfy demand," said Markham.

Although the company sells only whole crab to China, its business is mainly crabmeat. "We are very keen to introduce our fantastic crabmeats to the domestic Chinese market and also the international hotels and restaurants in China," Markham added.

The Scottish government realizes that in order to export its produce, one of the best ways is to introduce its natural larder to chefs.

As part of a celebration for the Year of Food and Drink Scotland 2015, the Scottish government, the Federation of Chefs Scotland and the Scottish Seafood Collaborative group invited the Hong Kong Chefs Association and the winner of the Scottish recipe challenge to Scotland for a week of culinary sharing and industry insight.

Anita Cheng, international team manager at the Hong Kong Chefs Association and one of the delegation members, said: "Having done my research on different sites and farms that we were to visit, I found they turned out in some ways better."

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